Fighting continues in Soledar, a salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine, despite Russia’s claims of establishing control over the region, CNN writes.

If Russian forces do capture the city, it would be Moscow’s first victory in Donbas in months, potentially giving President Vladimir Putin some breathing room after a series of battlefield defeats since last summer.

The importance of the city of Soledar from a military point of view is minimal. However, its capture would allow Russian forces, particularly Wagner’s mercenary group, to focus on the nearby town of Bakhmut, which has been a target since the summer.

The city of Soledar has been a target of Russian forces since last May

With a pre-war population of about 10,000, it has no strategic value in itself, but is a milestone in the battle to wear down the Russians in the west.

Moscow had been trying to attack Bakhmut from the east for months, but if they captured Soledar, Moscow could at least approach the city by another route.

The Russian armed forces had nothing to celebrate since the beginning of July and were forced to retreat both to Kharkiv in the north and to Kherson in the south of Ukraine.

Therefore, the capture of the city of Soledar, despite the fact that it is in ruins, would represent a rare advance. But it would be more symbolic than meaningful.

The Institute for the Study of War said that control of Soledar “will not necessarily allow Russian forces to exercise control over critical Ukrainian land lines of communication with Bakhmut,” the top prize.

“Even taking Russia’s most generous statements at face value, the capture of the small town of Soledar does not mean an immediate encirclement of Bakhmut,” the think tank added (more on CNN).

The head of Wagner’s military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Wednesday that his forces had completely “liberated” the mining town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, killing about 500 pro-Ukraine troops, Reuters reported.